How do y’all deal with the oxytocin crash the day after a good cuddle session? I’m all blue and foggy brained and melancholy for 24-48 hours after a good cuddle. How do you cope?
Book / schedule your next cuddle even if it is 1-2 months away. Having something to look forward to helps. A good self-care program also helps (whatever form or exercise you enjoy, meditation, etc.).
After care is very important to me. I will check in with the person I'm cuddling with. Make sure they are OK. See if I can do anything to help them.
Remember that it's just a hangover, will pass, and doesn't really matter. The benefit will last.
The advice already given covers the main points I think. Drink plenty of liquids and eat lots of fruit and vegetables, give your body the nutrients it needs to process the chemicals. But in the end of the day there's not much you can do.
You could invest in a time-travel machine, but I wouldn't recommend it in this circumstance and it brings its own troubles.
What I found that seems to help me is just time you have to let time pass by and don’t book too many cuddle sessions close together space them out it will help clear out that fog
Go to the gym and pump some iron usually does the job. Replace it with some blood flow and testosterone? But then again works for me everyone is different!
I had an oxytocin joke to insert here but it was a letdown.
In addition to the advice above, I'd recommend pampering yourself a bit or indulging in something you love. Whether it's your favorite comfort food, watching a funny movie, listening to music, taking a nice long bath, yoga, a hike, a videogame, or snuggling a pet, there are many ways to get those oxytocin levels back up.
Feel happy that it happened, and that you feel that way. You're human, and managed to connect with someone.
As a way to taper down from a good cuddle, try doing something that involves some limited physical contact like getting a pedicure or going for a haircut where the stylist washes your hair afterwards.
One other thing that has worked for me to lessen the post-cuddle crash: Many cities have massage schools that offer almost-free services so that their students can get in some real life practice. Schedule yourself to be a massage dummy the day after your cuddle. It will give you some economical human contact to look forward to and serve as a bridge until the time you are able to schedule your next cuddle.